WinXP Pro SP2 Chn(pirated of course) - RAM problem, only recognizes 256megs with a 1gig chip installed Options

[ChugokuOtaku]

my friend(like other "friends" who only come to me when they have comp problems) comes to me, gives me two identical HP z5000 laptops, asking me to reinstall a Chinese version of WinXP Pro SP2 on both.
The systems are pretty decent, 1.8Ghz Turion64 with 1gig of RAM(single chip)

So I installed, went through fine, until I disabled the paging file, and found the system telling me it's outta RAM, and forced to shut down... so I checked the system specs, and found it only recognized 256megs of RAM. I popped open the RAM compartment to find that it does indeed have 1gig of PC2700 DDR installed. Verified that the BIOS is picking up the full gig. Both system properties panel and DXDiag are reading 256megs. Msinfo32 is picking up 1gig though.

Chatted with an HP tech person for a while, she had me reinstalled the chipset driver, didn't help. Then I remembered that AMD chips use on-die memory controllers, so tried reinstalling the CPU driver, but came up with an error about c:/boot.ini can't be read/opened. Device manager said all devices had proper drivers. So the tech said I should reinstall.

If I had only one laptop, yes, that would make sense, but I'm working with two, identical system, specs and all. Installed the exact same way, and both systems only pick up quarter gig. Which leads me to believe that, yes, it's something in the OS, and no, reinstalling will probably not help at all.

Any suggestions?

[tchan_4]

open the RAM compartment and take out the RAM sticks and them install them again?

[ChugokuOtaku]

open the RAM compartment and take out the RAM sticks and them install them again?

Tried that.
Even swapped the RAM in the two laptops
Same thing.

[tchan_4]

try this

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp


or try installing OS again from a diff source.
http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=89156

This post has been edited by tchan_4: Sep 25 2006, 06:44 AM

[Metropolitan]

There's a component of the Pirated XP Pro that's missing that causes this error. I forget what DLL or wha tit could be. Best bet is to get another XP Pro and install it.

[Jigga]

Couldn't you just install the U.S. version then change all the settings to Chinese?

[ChugokuOtaku]

Couldn't you just install the U.S. version then change all the settings to Chinese?

I don't think you can change everything unless you get the MUI version.
These ppl want the whole thing in Chinese, not just the ability to run non-unicode Chinese programs in the English version.

Just downloaded 2 versions of XP Chinese yesterday, will try again.

[tchan_4]

did u try and diagnos the error wf this?

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

mite not work on ur illegal os, but worth a try

This post has been edited by tchan_4: Sep 25 2006, 12:26 PM

[laguna]

Check the boot.ini
You could limit the amount of RAM Windows sees by a boot.ini parameter.

[ChugokuOtaku]

been at this for another 2 weeks... pissed!
okay, so I tried 4 different versions of Chinese WinXP by now
the first version of Chinese XP I had, I completely gave up on, so I downloaded 3 more versions of Chinese XP Pro, every single one recognized 256megs, so finally, I found a working torrent for Chinese MCE 2005, tried that... STILL FU-KING 256MEGS!!!!

and then I tried two other versions of English WinXP, Pro and Pro MUI, both recognized the full 1gig of RAM... wtf!?!?
I don't get it... is there some kinda limiter with the Chinese versions? anyone with experience? or is there supposed to be a patch available for AMD systems?

I also checked the boot.ini, the RAM limiter isn't enabled, and when I enable it, I can't push it past 256megs, so I think it's obvious it's not picking up the full gig at the OS level

This post has been edited by ChugokuOtaku: Oct 9 2006, 07:40 PM

[dgs_vex]

get like a very weak linux boot cd and see if it works. if not then ur ram is broken.

what type of ram is it and is it compatable with ur comp?

[ChugokuOtaku]

get like a very weak linux boot cd and see if it works. if not then ur ram is broken.

what type of ram is it and is it compatable with ur comp?

the RAM came stock with the HP laptops, I think either Hynix or Samsung
they worked fine under all English versions of XP, so at this point, I doubt it's hardware
and I think there's very low chance that both laptops happen to have come with two sticks of defective RAM in both systems, as it happens that both systems were preloaded with MCE and recognized the full gig fine before I installed the Chinese versions.

like I said before, BIOS is picking up the full gig, and so is msinfo32

is there anything I can possibly check on the OS level to see if there's some kinda limiter?

just to be sure, I check with a linux boot CD, 1gig did show up.

This post has been edited by ChugokuOtaku: Oct 9 2006, 09:25 PM

[tchan_4]

do wot 'laguna' said:

Start- Run- MSCONFIG - ADVANCED - UNTICK THE MEMORY LIMIT

[ChugokuOtaku]

sorry to be a pain...
the memory limiter wasn't enabled in the first place.
I checked and unchecked it just to be sure
on all 4 versions of Chinese XP I tried, all had the memory limiter disabled by default, just like the English versions.

[tchan_4]

try this:

Right Click My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced -> Settings (Start-Up & Recovery Settings) -> EDIT
BOOT.INI should open up.

in the BOOT.INI file, search for "/fastdetect " <----- without the quotes ""
you have 1024MB RAM? Add this beside "/fastdetect " "/maxmem=1024"

Should look like this:
/fastdetect /maxmem=1024 <------ MAKE SURE THERE IS A SPACE AFTER THE WORD FASTDETECT!!

Your BOOT.INI should now look something like:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /maxmem=1024

Now SAVE and restart your computer!

If this solution works then to make this permanent instead of editing your BOOT.INI everytime you reboot, you have to load your laptop in SAFE MODE and edit your boot.ini file.

Hope this works :S .....

PS: your ram is not broke as its picked up in the BIOS,

This post has been edited by tchan_4: Oct 10 2006, 11:00 AM

[Neon]

try this:

Right Click My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced -> Settings (Start-Up & Recovery Settings) -> EDIT
BOOT.INI should open up.

in the BOOT.INI file, search for "/fastdetect " <----- without the quotes ""
you have 1024MB RAM? Add this beside "/fastdetect " "/maxmem=1024"

Should look like this:
/fastdetect /maxmem=1024 <------ MAKE SURE THERE IS A SPACE AFTER THE WORD FASTDETECT!!

Your BOOT.INI should now look something like:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /maxmem=1024

Now SAVE and restart your computer!

h'mmm manually confriguing the amount of memory to be used by windows, good job but i still doubt. " Msinfo32 is picking up 1Gig"whatevA,The os looks Dead, may be there's somethin wrong gone with driver.cab or some other window's component,

i blame Os, why don't you get new one? whatever, Pirated or genuine one, there's not much difference in genuine product and pirated Edition, yea if you're talking about price then there's huge difference

"Right Click My Computer -> Properties" - lol i'm so lazy doing this.... you can simply press windows logo Key+Pause break key -

[ChugokuOtaku]

"Right Click My Computer -> Properties" - lol i'm so lazy doing this.... you can simply press windows logo Key+Pause break key -

wow... and you think I haven't tried that
I've already stated that system properties panel only picks up 256megs genius

tchan_4, I'll try what you've suggested when I get home from work
thanx for all your help!

[ChugokuOtaku]

I tried modifying the boot.ini, setting it to 1024, rebooted system, checked properties, 256megs recognized.
someone suggested that I copy the memory files over from an English installation, but I've got no clue on which files those might be...

[tchan_4]

hey.
try this,
http://www.memtest86.com/
if it detects an error, it will fix auto...
if this don work, il help u on friday, (busy 2day&2mr)

(i really think its ur OS thats fu-kin it up lol..... other thing u can do is Virus scan ur pc, some viruses messes up ur memory.)

This post has been edited by tchan_4: Oct 11 2006, 12:14 PM

[Neon]

Virus, e'rrr... may be there's nothng that Virus can't do, since your Win Xp is pirated one possibly there's a Virus in Win Xp (Cd) or .exe Setup File,
So perform Deep Scan with your Av,( if possible use Kaspresky or nod32 or Avast Pro Av they've got better unpacking engine )
_______________________________________________________________
> "I tried 4 different versions of Chinese WinXP by now
the first version of Chinese XP I had, I completely gave up on, so I downloaded 3 more versions of Chinese XP Pro, every single one recognized 256megs, so finally, I found a working torrent for Chinese MCE 2005, tried that... STILL FU-KING 256MEGS!!!!"

> "I tried two other versions of English WinXP, Pro and Pro MUI, both recognized the full 1gig of RAM"

> " Msinfo32.Exe is picking up 1gig "

- So Confusing.... combining First and Second point, IT clearly states that chinese Version of Xp is the problem, and Third point brings climaX.

, Just one Question -
* What's your current Virtual memory?
-> [1536] or [384] ?
+

"So I installed, went through fine, until I disabled the paging file, and found the system telling me it's outta RAM, and forced to shut down... "

> lol can you explain why you went disabling paging File,what was the reason behind doing this ?